PHILADELPHIA — The Bears bullied the defending Super Bowl champion into submission, adding their shade of blue to Black Friday, in a 24-15 win that stands as the most profound statement by the franchise this decade.
They did so on the legs of running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who ran behind a phalanx of blockers that opened up seams so dramatically — and consistently — that quarterback Caleb Williams said he’d hand the ball off and cheer his offensive line “like a little kid.”
Swift and Monangai became the first pair of Bears teammates to each run for 100 yards since 1985. Along the way, the Bears sent a message to the rest of the NFL.
“We’re for real,” Swift said.
After a season spent eking out wins against losing teams and bottom-tier quarterbacks, the Bears spent Friday night pounding the Eagles with body blows on the way to their fifth-straight win. At 9-3, the Bears lead the NFC North. Were the season to end today, they’d be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
“We’re not finished,” cornerback Kyler Gordon said. “Nine’s not enough. We all got future plans … in February. That’s all we’re really shooting for.”
To win playoff games — much less the Super Bowl — the Bears need a better performance from Williams, who struggled with his own accuracy and what he called “weird gusts” of wind whipping through Lincoln Financial Field.
Williams went 17-for-36 for 154 yards, one interception and a 56.9 passer rating. His 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet to go up 24-9 midway through the fourth quarter was the dagger that sent disgusted locals, some with voices raspy from booing, stomping off into the South Philadelphia night.
The Bears were their best, though, when Williams turned around and handed the ball off.
Swift, a Philadelphia native and former Eagles player, called his performance — 18 carries for 125 yards with a touchdown— a “full circle moment.” Monangai, who ran 22 times for 130 yards and his own score, said it was an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as Walter Payton and Matt Suhey, who each had triple-digit yards against the Lions in 1985.
“I probably called too many pass plays this game especially with how we were running it,” coach Ben Johnson said. “That’s an area that I can be better at.”
The Bears ran often enough — 47 times for 281 yards, an average of 6 yards per carry — to set the tone.
“We’re not going to let anybody dictate to us what we’re going to do,” Monangai said. “We follow the lead of the guys in front.”
The Bears led 10-9 in the third quarter, thanked to a missed extra point by Jake Elliott, when Eagles edge rusher Jalyx Hunt leapt at the line of scrimmage to try to knock down Williams’ screen pass and caught the ball. His 11-yard return gave the Eagles the ball at the Bears’ 36, and Saquon Barkley’s 15-yard run put them on the edge of the red zone.
The Eagles drove to the 12 and, on third-and-one, lined up in their patented “Tush Push” formation. Hurts plunged forward toward a first down, only for Wright to reach into the pile and yank the ball out of his arms. Wright emerged from the pile with the ball in his hands.
It was the most consequential play of the game by a defense that held Hurts to 19-of-34 passing for 230 yards and an 84.2 passer rating.
The Bears, who had managed only five first downs on their previous five drives, promptly marched 87 yards down the field, starting with a 31-yarder by Monangai on the first play of the possession.
“That was a huge one in the moment,” Johnson said.
On fourth-and-five from the Eagles’ 37 with about a minute left in the third quarter, Williams found rookie tight end Colston Loveland for a seven-yard gain. Five plays later, Monangai plunged four yards for a touchdown to put the Bears up 17-9.
“We’ve got elite backs, we have an elite offensive line and we have an elite wide receiver group that is willing to put themselves out there and block for the betterment of the team. …” Williams said. “Their willingness to go out there and block, it’s awesome to watch, it’s awesome to see from my point of view. But I can’t wait to go watch it on film and get excited about it.”
After Kmet’s touchdown catch, Eagles receiver A.J. Brown caught his second touchdown of the game with 3:10 to play to pull the Eagles within nine. They decided to go for two points to cut the lead to seven but Hurts threw incomplete. The impending onside kick bounced into the arms of receiver Rome Odunze.
The Eagles reclaimed possession with 1:12 to play, down nine with no timeouts remaining. Elliott tried a 52-yard field goal in the game’s final seconds but missed it.
Williams tried to downplay the importance of the win; if anything, the Bears’ success this season is emblematic of their ability to treat each game the same. He acknowledged, though, that it felt different.
“it is very important to us,” he said, “because we understand what it is and what it means for us.”
The rest of the league is on notice.
“Another story of the team playing together,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “Complementing each other. Believing in ourselves.”
